Parking device for automobiles



NOV. 19, 1949. BARR 2,222,359

PARKING DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES Original Filed Aug. 20, 1952 3 S eets-she t 1 NOV. 19, 194$. J BARR 2,222,359

PARKING DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES Original Filed Aug. 20, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jamv A. 56%56 fun- M04 0 gmwm Nov. 19, 1940. .1. L. BARR I PARKING DEVICE FOR AUTOMOBILES Original Filed Aug. 20, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 awe/WM Jab N Z. Ewe/a mm 14 w Patented Nov. 19, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PARKING DEVICE FOR. AUTOMOBILES John L. Barr, Chevy Chase, Md.

Claims.

This application is a division of my co-pending application, Serial No. 74,385, filed April 14, 1936,

now Patent No. 2,151,828, which case is a division of application Serial No. 629,691, filed 5 August 20, 1932, now Patent No. 2,086,459 patented July 6, 1937.

.An object of this invention is to minimize the danger of injury both to the elevating device and to the roadbed through twisting strains which may be imposed upon the device due to inequalities in the roadbed, cramp of the steering wheels and other like factors.

Another object of my invention is to provide a simple construction that is easily and cheaply made and will always be available for instant operation when it is necessary to turn the car on a short radius.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a device which will permit turning of the car on a short radius with a minimum of effort, and yet which has no harmful effect on the normal steering of the vehicle when the device itself is not in operation.

With these and other objects in view which may be incident to my improvements, the invention consists in the parts and combinations to be hereinafter set forth and claimed, with theunderstanding that the several necessary "elements comprising my invention may be varied 3 in construction, proportions and arrangement,

without departing from'the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

. In order to make my invention more clearly understod, I have shown in the accompanying drawings means for carrying the same into practical effect, without limiting the improvements 2 in their useful applications to the particular con-,

structions which, for the purpose of explanation,

have been made the subject of illustration.

In the drawings: 7

Figure 1 is an elevation, looking from the rear of'the car towards the front, of the front steering wheels of the car with my elevating device attached in place.

j Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the construction shown in Figure 1, with part of the details omitted.

Figure 3 is a view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

I Figure 4 is a view partly in cross section of the details of construction'of my elevating device, showing in dotted lines the device raised to the inoperative position.

Figure 5 is a view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4, looking in'thedirection-of the-arrows.

Figure 6 is a view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 5, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 7 is a front elevation partly in section of another modification of my device.

Figure 8 is a View taken along the line 8-8 of Figure '7, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to the form of my device shown in Figures 1 to 6 inclusive, I have shown a steering axle'of an automobile, which is normally the front axle, designated by the numeral I. Mounted on this front axle are steering wheels 2, shown in a cramped position in dotted lines in Figure 2. In order to steer the wheels, proper connections such as are usual in constructions of this character are made, which include a steering tie rod 3. I

Fastened by suitable U-clamps 4 to the under side of the front axle is an elevating mechanism comprising a support plate 5, which acts as onehalf of a swivel joint, the other half of which is a swivel plate 6 having an arm 'I integrally formed therewith. The support plate 5 and the swivel plate 6, which is in sliding contact therewith, are mounted so that the plate 6 can" swivel onthe plate 5.

There is a stud 8, as plainly shown in Figure 4, whose upper end is provided with a head 9 which fits in the recess II of the'support plate, 5. The lower end of the stud 8 may be provided with a flanged portion I2 which-is suitably attached by any known means to the stud 8, and which permits the swivel plate 6 to rotate on the support plate 5. The swivel plate 6 is provided with two downwardly extending trunnion blocks I3 which hold the ends of a stubaxle I I. Mounted to swing on the stub axle I4 is an elevating rod I5 which is screwed, at I6,'into a bearing member H which swivels, on the stub axle I4. At the lower end of the elevating rod I5 I have provided a foot construction comprise ing a foot member I8 into which is screwedthe rod I5. Alock nut I9 is then screwed into position to hold the rod I5 in the foot member I8 at the desired position. This construction permits 45 the rod I5 to have anydesired operative length to accommodate for various sizes of cars.

The foot member I8 is made with an annular recess 20 around which is bolted a collar 2| to which is attached, by suitable connections, a cable 22 so that upon pulling the cab-le'the elevating rod I5 and the accompanying mechanism may be drawn up into the position shown in dotted lines in Figure 4. I r

' The rod I5 may be, in operation, let down, and u may swing on either side of the vertical. The driver, for instance in the' position shown in Figure 3, drives the car forward to raise the front end sufiiciently to relieve the weight on the front wheels to permit them to be readily turned. If

the elevating rod I5, however, was on the other side of the vertical, he would back the car on to the plane'of-swin'g of the member l5 will be sub'- the rod, so that the wheels could ,be readily turned, This general form of operation is shown in my Patents Nos. 1,967,219, 1,954,308;

It gives a which the momentum of damaging impact.

The device is merely allowed to falIintoen gage ment with the roadbed, and if the driverfails to mount upon the device at the exact position he wants, and should drive over it, for instanceby backing the car, he can come forward a few inches-and mountfl-it again; It will be understood that the control is applied through the power of the car and through the control of the foot brakes.

It is an easy operation to drive up on the device and hold the car by means of the brakes-in the desired positionwln'le the front wheels are turned. All this has been explained in my applications which issued into the patents listed above;

- In' the construction shown in thedrawings, the arm 1- is provided near its endwith a support piece 23 carrying an upstandingeyelet member 24 to which are attached springs 25, the springs 25 at their other ends being attached-to support pieces 26 mounted on the steering tie rod 3.

The arrangement is such thatthrough thearm T and the spring connections with the'tie'rod, the elevating rod I5 is swiveled on the swivel joint comprising the support plate 5 andswivel plate 6, so that whenthe-rod l5'swings' either forward or to the rear of the vertical on the stub axle l4,

stantially in line with a plane passing through the wheels; This is plainly shown in FigureZ, which shows the wheels cramped and the rod '1 ir'rdotted lines having been carried to one side. The plane of swing of the rod l5 will'be sub stantially parallel to the crampedposition'of the wheels. I r r In order to permit the device to be heldin-its upperinoperative position, as shown in Figure 4,

" withoutdanger of rattling or ofinjuring the desuitable cap 3! screwed therein. In the recess is.

vice, or'the car structure, I have shown on the bottom of the arm '1 a holding clamp 21 on which is mounted a rubber bumper 28"against-which the rod I5 rests when the cable 22"has hauled it into its uppermost position,

-In order to hold the mechanism in its inoperative position from swinging each time the steering wheels are moved, I have shown the sup port plate 5 provided with a recess 29 having a mounted a spring 32 carrying a spring pressed 1 plate 33. There is provided in the swivel plate 6 a recess 3 5 in which is mounted 'a plunger 35 having'a head 36 which, in the position "of the parts shown in Figure 6,.p'asses through the apertures in the swivel plate 6 and support-plate 5,

There is no danger ofxinjuring the -'ele-- vating rod because there is no stop against the car can "deal'a' of the plunger 35 looks the swivel plate 6 from rotation, and the plunger 35 is held in spring pressed relation between the tension springs 32 and 37. Upon lowering the elevating rod 15 by releasing the cable 22, a contact lug 4|, which has been bearing against the head 39, falls with the rod l 5 and no'longer pushes against the head 39. The head 39 then falls and the; spring 32 pushes thehead 36 of the plunger '35 to the lower position, so that the head 35 no longer locks the swivel plate 6 from rotation.

Now, let us assume that the rod I5 has again been raised into the position shown in Figure 6,

. but that the cramp of the wheels prevents the head 36 from entering in the aperture in the plate 5. In such a case no harm is done, because the spring 31 is merely compressed and the head 36 will enter the aperture in the plate 5 when the v rod 1 is in a position such as is shown in Figure 2 in the full line position.

This construction permits the device to be held inposition to preventits constant swiveling when not inuse, and yet it is free to swivel immediately upon lowering the elevating rod l5; By reason of the fact that the connection between the rod 1 and the tie rod 3 is through springs 25, the normal steering of the vehicle when the parts are in the position shown in Figure 6103111 proceed without undue interference. The spring connection between the rod I and the rod 3 is also of advantage in view of changes in the angular position of the rod 3 during cramping of the wheels-for instance, such an advantage as-is depicted in dotted lines in Figure 2; r

In Figures '7 and 8 I-have shown'a form of device in which the base plate 5a and swivel plate 6a are of considerably greater-length, for

instance, than in the forms shown in Figures 1 to 6 inclusive.-- The swivel plate is not provided with any arm, but is provided with a downwardly projecting trough 55 in whichis adapted to slide the top of a rectangular elevating leg construe tion 56. Eyelet members 51 are positioned at either end of the top of the elevating leg construction 56, and spring members 51' tend to center thisco nstruction in the position shown in Figure 11. Passing around the top bar of the elevating construction"56, which I have designated by the numeral 58, are, straps 59, whichpermitthe bar to rotate, and at the same time to slidein the trough construction 55.

In the construction shown in Figuresfl and theelevating construction is .free to swivel about the member 8. The member 56 can be raised and lowered, pivoting on the straps 59, and. a sliding motion is possible in thetrOugh-55. Thus freedom of 'motion in a plurality of directions is possible to prevent strain on the elevating device and its cooperating structure, as well as on the roadbed. j v i The construction just described permits movement between the parts to take care of strains imposed for instance when the wheels are cramped while the car is being driven up on to or down from, the compression element, and twisting and sideways motions are imparted to the supporting structure.

Iclaim:v p I 1. A device to relieve at leastpart of the weight on the steering wheels of a vehicle comprising an elevating member, a pivot therefor between -;the elevating member and the vehicle to take care of twisting movement, another pivot between the first mentioned pivot-and the elevating member at substantially right angles thereto, and means permitting sliding of the elevating member transversely to compensate for lateral movement.

2. A device to relieve at least part of the weight on the steering wheels of a vehicle comprising an elevating member, a pivot therefor between the elevating member and the vehicle to take care of twisting movement, another pivot between the first mentioned pivot and the elevating member at substantially right angles thereto, spring means tending to center the elevating member laterally, and means permitting sliding of the elevating member transversely to compensate for lateral movement.

3. A device to relieve at least part of the weight on the steering wheels of a vehicle comprising a rectangular elevating member upon which the vehicle is adapted to be driven by either forward or backward movement of the vehicle, a pivot therefor between the elevating member and the vehicle to take care of twisting forces, another pivot between the first mentioned pivot and the elevating member at substantially right angles thereto, means permitting sliding of the elevating elevating member and the axle tending to center the elevating member laterally of the vehicle.

4. In a device adapted to be associated with the axle of a motor vehicle for relieving at least part of the weight on the steering wheels, a rectangular elevating member supported by the axle and. adapted to slide transversely to compensate for lateral movement, a pivot for said elevating member located between the elevating member and the axle, and spring means attached at one end to the axle and at the other end to the elevating member to center the elevating member laterally.

5. In a device adapted to be associated with the axle of a motor vehicle for relieving at least part of the weight on the steering wheels, a base attached to the axle, a plate pivotally connected to the base, a rectangular elevating arm pivotally secure-d to said plate at substantially right angles to said first mentioned pivot, said elevating member being mounted for sideways movement in said plate to compensate for lateral movement, and spring means to center said elevating member laterally of the vehicle.

JOHN L. BARR. 

